The shadow of the Queen Mama Chanter swallowed their tiny sloop whole.
It was a confectionary nightmare of a ship—the size of a floating island, with a massive singing figurehead that drooled frosting into the sea. Standing on the bow was Charlotte Linlin.
She was terrifying.
Thirty feet tall, wearing a pink captain's hat and a white dress, she looked down at them not like a pirate looks at an enemy, but like a hungry child looks at a cupcake.
"Ma~mamama!" Her laughter rippled through the air, vibrating in Ren's bones. "Kaido! Is that how you treat your big sister? Running away without even a goodbye kiss?"
Kaido stood on the railing of their stolen sloop, his Kanabo resting on his shoulder. He didn't look afraid, but his muscles were coiled tight.
"I'm not your brother, Linlin," Kaido rumbled. "And I'm not your subordinate. I'm starting my own legend."
"Legend?" Linlin's eyes narrowed. The air temperature dropped. Prometheus—the sun homie floating near her hair—flared up, turning her silhouette into a burning demon. "You're nothing without me! I gave you that fruit! You belong to me!"
Behind Linlin, a few younger figures peered over the railing. Ren recognized a lanky boy with a long tongue—Perospero—and a stoic, scarf-wearing ten-year-old who looked ready to kill. Katakuri. Even at ten, the boy radiated danger.
"Ren," Kaido said quietly, not taking his eyes off Linlin. "She's not going to let us pass. She wants to absorb us or sink us."
Ren stepped up beside Kaido. His heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. This was Big Mom. A future Yonko. If she wanted to, she could turn this ocean into a graveyard in seconds.
"What's the plan?" Ren whispered.
"We make a hole," Kaido grinned, his eyes flashing with excitement. "And we jump through it."
On the deck behind them, Kakuzu was frantically sealing his money into waterproof scrolls. "This is bad business. That woman... she smells like debt."
"She looks tasty!" Hidan yelled, waving his scythe at Linlin. "Hey, giant lady! Do you bleed? I bet you have gallons of blood!"
Linlin's gaze shifted to Hidan, then to Ren.
"Oh?" She licked her lips. "Are these your new pets, Kaido? A loudmouth, a stitch-man... and a little boy." She leaned down, her massive face looming closer. "Give them to me. I want them for my collection. Especially the immortal one. He'll be fun to play with."
Ren felt the pressure of her Conqueror's Haki. It washed over him like a tidal wave of grape-scented sludge. It demanded submission.
I can't back down.
Ren grit his teeth, flaring his chakra to shield his mind.
"We aren't pets," Ren shouted, his voice cracking slightly before finding its strength. "We are the Beast Pirates."
"Beast Pirates?" Linlin laughed. "Ma~mamama! Cute! Then show me! If you can't entertain me, I'll eat your souls right now!"
She raised her hand. "Napoleon! Prometheus! Zeus!"
The sword, the sun, and the cloud sprang to life.
"Ren!" Kaido barked. "Do it! Bring out the heavy artillery!"
Ren didn't hesitate. He turned to Kakuzu. "Give me a body! Now!"
Kakuzu scowled, clutching a sealed scroll. "These are worth 5 million berries each at the exchange!"
"I'll pay you back double! Give me one!"
Kakuzu grumbled something about predatory interest rates but unsealed a corpse—one of the Silver Axe elite pirates.
Ren slammed his hand onto the deck.
[System Engage.]
[Sacrifice Accepted.]
[Summoning: Deidara (The Bomber)]
"Art..." Ren whispered. "...is an explosion."
The grey ash swirled violently, faster than usual, agitated by the chakra. It consumed the pirate corpse in a blink.
From the dust rose a young man with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, a mesh shirt, and a rogue ninja headband with a slash through the rock symbol. He had a clay pouch on his hip and mouths in the palms of his hands.
Deidara opened his blue eyes. He looked at the massive candy ship. He looked at the singing figurehead. He looked at Linlin.
His eyes lit up.
"Un!" Deidara grunted, a sound of pure artistic appreciation. "Look at that! It's gaudy! It's huge! It's begging to be blown up!"
"Deidara!" Ren commanded, pointing at the Queen Mama Chanter. "Distract her! Create chaos! But don't hit the water, or we're dead!"
Deidara smirked. He shoved his hands into his clay pouches. The mouths in his palms chewed hungrily.
"Finally, a master who understands art! Leave it to me, yeah!"
Deidara leaped.
He didn't jump at the ship. He jumped onto the back of a massive white clay bird that expanded instantly from his hand.
"C2 Dragon!"
The clay dragon roared, flapping its wings and soaring into the sky, dwarfing the Beast Pirates' sloop.
Linlin looked up, confused. "A bird?"
"Katsu!" Deidara shouted.
The dragon opened its mouth and spat out dozens of smaller clay figures—spiders, birds, and centipedes. They rained down on the Queen Mama Chanter.
"What are these toys?" Perospero scoffed, creating a wall of candy to block them. "Candy Wall!"
The clay figures landed on the candy wall. They landed on the deck. They landed on the singing figurehead's nose.
Deidara formed a seal with one hand.
"Boom."
BA-BA-BA-BOOM!
The explosions were deafening. White light engulfed the deck of the Big Mom ship. The Candy Wall shattered into sugar dust. The singing figurehead had its nose blown clean off.
"MY SHIP!" Linlin shrieked. Her eyes went white with rage. "YOU BRAT!"
"Ah, pop art," Deidara sighed happily from atop his dragon, circling high above. "Fleeting beauty!"
"Kill him!" Linlin screamed. She grabbed Zeus, the thundercloud. "Thunderbolt!"
A massive bolt of yellow lightning ripped through the sky toward Deidara.
"Whoa!" Deidara banked hard, the dragon diving to avoid the strike. "Lightning style? That's my weakness, un! But you have to hit me first!"
Deidara threw a handful of clay birds. They zipped through the air, homing in on Linlin's face.
While Linlin was swatting at the exploding birds, Kaido moved.
"Now!" Kaido roared.
He didn't attack Linlin. He attacked the sea.
Kaido swung his Kanabo downward with everything he had.
Vajra Arrow!
The shockwave hit the water between the two ships. It created a massive displacement—a tsunami-like wave that pushed their small sloop violently away from Big Mom's ship, riding the swell like a surfboard.
"Hold on!" Ren screamed, grabbing the mast.
Kakuzu used his threads to lash himself, his money, and Hidan to the deck.
"We're getting away!" Ren yelled up at the sky. "Deidara! Recall!"
"Aww, I was just getting started!" Deidara complained. He jumped off his clay dragon, letting the construct dive-bomb the Big Mom ship in one final suicide run.
KA-BOOM!
A massive mushroom cloud of smoke erupted, obscuring their escape. Deidara landed gracefully on the deck of the fleeing sloop.
"Did you see that?" Deidara beamed, holding up a hand. "The composition was perfect!"
"You cost me a 5 million berry corpse," Kakuzu said, stepping forward with murder in his eyes.
"And you almost sunk us with the shockwave!" Ren added, breathing heavily.
Behind them, through the smoke, Linlin's voice echoed across the ocean. It wasn't a scream of rage anymore. It was a laugh.
"MA~MAMAMA! Kaido! You found some fun toys! Go on! Run to Wano! Get strong! Because when I come for you, I'm taking everything!"
Ren slumped against the railing as the Queen Mama Chanter faded into the distance.
They were safe. For now.
Kaido sat down heavily on a crate, grabbing a bottle of sake. He was grinning.
"She liked it," Kaido said. "She respects power. If we had begged, she would have killed us."
He looked at Deidara, who was currently molding a small clay rabbit.
"You," Kaido pointed. "Explosion brat. Can you make something bigger?"
Deidara looked at Kaido. He saw the horns, the size, the raw power. He smirked.
"Bigger? My art knows no limits, yeah. With enough chakra... I can blow up a country."
Kaido's grin widened. "I like him."
Kakuzu sighed, rubbing his temples. "Great. Another maniac. Ren, we are going to need a bigger budget."
Ren looked at his chaotic crew.
A suicidal Emperor.
A masochistic immortal.
A greedy zombie.
And now, a terrorist artist.
They were heading to Wano—a closed country ruled by Samurai.
"Kakuzu," Ren said, standing up and looking North. "Don't worry about the budget. Wano is known as the Country of Gold. We're going to be rich."
Kakuzu's eyes snapped open. The green irises seemed to glow.
"Gold?" Kakuzu stood up straight. "Why are we sailing so slow? Increase speed."
Ren laughed. For the first time since arriving in this world, he felt like a true pirate captain.
"To Wano," Ren declared. "To war."
[System Notification]
[Chapter 1 Complete: The Assembly.]
[Beginning Chapter 2: The Wano Takeover.]
[New Objective: Kill Kurozumi Orochi.]
Ren stared at the notification. Kill Orochi? Wait, doesn't Kaido usually partner with him?
Ren looked at Kaido. Kaido hated weakness. Orochi was the definition of weakness.
Things are going to change, Ren realized. We aren't going to ally with Orochi. We're going to exterminate him.
This was going to be a very different history.